Folio from Divan (collected poems) by Sultan Husayn Mirza (d.1506)

Object Details

• Author

  Sultan Husayn Mirza (1470-1506)

• Label

  Written in Turkish, this elegant folio in nasta'liq is from a copy of the collected works of the last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Bayqara. It is executed in a complicated technique known as qata'i (decoupage). Instead of writing in ink, individual letters are cut out of different colored paper and pasted on a contrasting background. The art of decoupage, which originated in late fifteenth-century Herat, required tremendous skill, dexterity, and imagination.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy (September 13, 2014 to May 3, 2015)

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Nastaliq Calligraphy (September 23, 1982 to January 20, 1984)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian and Persian Art (March 24, 1930 to March 14, 1931)

• Origin

  Herat, Afghanistan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• On View

  Freer Gallery 04: Engaging the Senses

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s

• Name

  Husayn Mirza, Sultan

• Place

  Afghanistan, Herat

• Topic

  Art, Timurid period (1378 - 1506), Arts of the Islamic World, Illumination, Decoupage

• Culture

  Muslims

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts

• On View

  Yes